Gun-carriage.



No. 707,376. Ptented Aug. [9, I902.

0. BEHNKE.

GUN CARRIAGE.

(Application flied Feb. 18I I801.)

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

lNV-E NTORL B HTTORNEY.

WITN ESSES: dad/W.

TNE Nonms Pzvzns co. woTo-uwo WASHING muv N0. 707,376. Patented Aug. l9,I902.

0. BEHNKE.

GUN CARRIAGE.

(Application filed Feb. 18, 1901.

3 Shuts-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: Wvzmoa; Ju Nw/W M ATTORNEY;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO BEHNKE, OF ESSEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO FRIED. KRUPP, OF

ESSEN, GERMANY.

GUN-CARRIAGE:

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 707,376, dated August19, 1902. Application filed February 18, 1901. Serial No. 47,715. (Nomodel.)

when the gun is limbered up in order for marching, so that the spur doesnot interfere with the transportation of the gun.

The object of the present invention is accomplished, essentially, byconnecting the spur to the carriage or to the spur-carrier by operativeand in its transport position.

The nature of this invention will best be understood when described inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 representsa sectional side elevation of part of a gun-carriage, showing the spurattached to the recoil-brake, said spur being shown in its operativeposition. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to'Fig. 1, but showing the spur in its position fortransportation or marching order, Fig. 4 is a sectional rear viewlooking in the direction of arrow 4:, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection and a plan of the adj usting-lever, drawn on an enlarged scale.Fig. 6 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the entire gunand carriage on a smaller scale. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1, butshowing the spur attached directly to the guncarriage.

Similar'letters of reference designate correspending parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

Referring at present to Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawings, wherein I haveshown the spur in I connection with the recoil-brake,although thelatterdoes not constitute any part of the present invention, but will bedescribed for the the brake-rod, which is placed between the walls ofthe gun-carriage and is linked to the. front part of the carriage-bodyand adapted to slide, as usual, and has also connected therewith thespur F at its rear. The brakerod A is encompassed by a spring B, thefront end of which abuts against the carriage and 1 the body of thecarriage by suitable means,

such as chains or the like, so that it lies fast between the walls ofthe carriage.

The connection between the spur and the brake-rod is accomplished in thefollowing manner: The spade-like blade of the spur F is provided withtwo parallel arms ff, having at their ends socketsb b, which serve forthe purpose of hinging the spur. to the spurcarrier 0. The latter, whichis preferably made in the form of a hollow cylinder closed at one end,is placed over the rear end of the brake-rodA and secured to the same inany suitable manner, so that it forms at the same time an abutment forthe recoil-spring B. The spur-carrier O is provided with two sockets a,01., arranged in a horizontal line between the walls of the carriage andwhich are adapted for the reception of the pivotal bolt E,

' which passes through the same, as well as the sockets b b of the spurF. The distance between the inner faces of the sockets b b is somewhatgreater than the outsidedistance between the sockets a a,'so that someplay is permitted between these parts. At its rear end the spur-carrierterminates in a horizontal plate D, adapted to engage with the groundand with which the blade of the spur F is adapted to be coupled in theoperative position in the manner hereinafter to be described, the objectof said plate D being to prevent the spur from penetrating too deeplyinto the earth and also to prevent the earth from being plowed or thrownup on recoil.

the rear end of which engages with an abut- The spur is connected withthe spur-carrier by means of the bolt E, previously referred to, andwhich latter is mounted to turn in the sockets a a, formed in thespur-carrier O. The boltE is provided at both ends with eccentricjournals e e, which are coaxial and have the same eccentricity withreference to the bolt E. These journals have bearings in the sockets b bof the arms ff of the spur F, so that the spur can be turned about saidjournals 0 b from its operative position to its transport position, andvice versa. To permit the bolt E to be inserted into the four sockets aa and b b on one side, the eccentric journal 6 is made larger and thejournal e smaller than the diameter of the bolt E. After the bolt E hasbeen inserted it issecured by means of a collar d on the journal 8 andthe nut 61, screwed onto the journal 8. In View of the eccentricity ofthe journals e e a turning of the bolt E will cause a rising or loweringof the spur relative to the spur-carrier-that is to say, a sliding oreccentric movement relative to the same which movement is utilized forcoupling and uncoupling the spur to and from the spurcarrier. For thispurpose the blade of the spur F is provided at its top with a number ofhook-formed catches c, and in the plate D are formed correspondingrecesses or rests g, with which the catches c engage when the spur is inits working position, so as to form an operative combination of thespur-blade and the spur-carrier. When the bolt E is turned, the catchesare thrown out of engagement with the rests. In order that the spur maybe rigidly connected with the spur-carrier during transport, there arearranged on the inner surfaces of the armsff two catches h h and at thefront of the spur-carrier 0 two corresponding recesses or rests t' 2",which catches and rests are adapted for relative engagement in a similarmanner as the catches c and the rests g and are similarly operated bythe turning of the bolt E in View of its eccentric mounting. The bolt Eis turned for the coupling and uncoupling of the spur by means of acrank attached to said bolt and consisting of a rod Gr, attachedvertically to the axis of rotation of the bolt. To prevent an accidentalturning of the bolt E, which would cause uncoupling of the spur from thespur-carrier, a sleeve H is slidably arranged upon the rod G, saidsleeve being of larger diameter than the rod and guided by int-ernalcollars or shoulders 7c. The sleeve H is acted upon by a spring L,surrounding the upper part of the rod G and confined between the collaror shoulder 70 and a nut M, screwed on the end of the rod G. The springL consequently tends to move the sleeve H toward the horizontal bolt Eupon the rod G. The end of the sleeve II adjacent to the bolt E isprovided with two diametrically-placed radial noses n n, the centralplane of which passes through the axis of the bolt E. These noses restupon the circumferences of the sockets a a and slide upon the sameduring the turning of the bolt E, and therefore a longitudinal movementof the sleeve H under the pressure of the spring L is not possible. Thesockets a a are,however,provided with rests 0 0, which are constructedto correspond in form to the noses a n and are so located that whenthehand-lever is in the position to be locked the noses n a are oppositeto and capable of entering the rests. Consequently in this position ofthe lever the sleeve H can yield under the pressure of the spring L, sothat the noses n n enter the rests o 0 and lock the lever, while bydrawing back the sleeve on the rod G against the pressure of the springthe noses are again drawn out of engagement with the rests and the leveris released. To limit the drawing-out movement of the sleeve H, ashoulder 19 is arranged on said sleeve, which is adapted to engage witha collar m on the nut M when the sleeve is withdrawn.

The operation and manipulation of the apparatus are as follows: When thespuris in its operative position, the several parts are located as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. The catches a of the spur-blade are in engagement withthe rests g of the plate D, and the spur is rigidly coupled to thespur-carrier, while the handlever is unlocked by drawing back the sleeveH and then turned toward the trail of the gun-carriage, so as to takethe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. In view of the turning ofthe bolt by this movement the spur is moved obliquely toward the rear ofthe carriage through a distance equal to twice the eccentricity of thejournals 6 e. The catches 0 pass out of the rests g, and the spurassumes the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The spur is thenturned toward the front of the gun-carriage until the catches h h comeopposite to the rests i t", and then the hand-lever is returned to itsoriginal position. During the latter movement the spur is again movedthrough double the eccentricity of the journals 6 6, but forwardly in anoblique direction, and the catches h h engage with the rests t' '11 andlock the spur in its transport position, as shown by full lines in Fig.3. The turning over of the spur from its transport position to itsoperative position takes place in the same manner, but in reverse order.

In Fig. 7 I have shown the spur in direct connection with thegun-carriage, forming what is generally called rigid spur. Thisarrangement is distinguished from that here inbefore described only bythe fact that the bearings a a for the bolt, the rests t' 'i for thehooks h 71,, and the plate D are connected directly to the walls of thecarriage instead of to the spur-carrier.

What I claim as new is- 1. In combination with a gun-carriage, abrake-spur swinging upon a pivot to and from its braking position, aneccentric bolt forming said pivot, having a rotation independent of theswinging movement of the spur, and

means through which the spur engages the carriage, for locking the spurin braking and in inoperative positions, moved into and out of bothlocking engagements by the eccentric bolt.

2. The combination with a gun-carriage, of a pivotal eccentric boltplaced in connection with the carriage, a spur swung on said eccentricbolt, and interlocking parts placed respectively on the spur-carrier andon the spur to hold the spur in braking and in inoperative positions andadapted to be thrown into and out of engagement by the movements of thebolt, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a gun-carriage, a brake-spur swinging upon apivot to and from its brakingposition, an eccentric bolt formingsaidpivot, having a rotation independent of the swinging movement of thespur, means through which the spur engages the carriage for locking thespur in braking and in inoperative positions, moved into and out-of bothlocking engagements by the eccentric of said bolt, and a lever forrotating the eccentric.

4. In combination with a gun-carriage, a

5. In combination with a gun, a brakingspur swinging about a pivot onsaid gun, from transport position to braking position, and having ateach end of its swinging movement, a movement essentially radial to itspivot,

and locking means'at each end of the spurs path of swinging, by whichthe spur engages tially radial in relation to its pivot, into and out oflocking relation to the gun-carriage, locking means carried by thecarriage and spur to lock the spur in braking and in inoperativepositions, and brought into and out of engagement by the said radialmovement of the spur, and a bolt carrying an eccentric providing thepivot for the spur, and having a rotating movement independent of theswinging movement of the spur.

7. In combination with a gun-carriage; a braking-spur swinging about apivot on said carriage, and also having a movement essentially radial inrelation to its pivot, into and out of locking relation to thegun-carriage, means adapted to lock the spur in braking and ininoperative positions and carried by the carriage and spur consisting ofa projection on one part and a recess on the other brought into and outof engagement by the said radial movement of the spur, and a boltcarrying an eccentric providing the pivot for the spur, and having arotating movement independent of the swinging movement of the spur.

y In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

OTTO BEHNKE.

Witnesses:

E. HERBER, WM. ESSENWEIN.

